Mitchell knows Sedins better than anyone

For the Kings, doing a better job of defending Vancouver’s Daniel and Henrik Sedin has been a major topic of discussion in the past few days, and nobody knows the Sedins better than Willie Mitchell. Since the Canucks’ twins came into the NHL, Mitchell has either played with them — for four seasons in Vancouver as a teammate — or against them. Mitchell offered a strong analysis of how he thinks the Kings need to better defend the Sedins, who were on the ice for all three of Vancouver’s goals in Game 4.

MITCHELL: “I know them really well. I played four years with them and played in the division against them a number of years, matched up against them every night in Minnesota. Everyone has their own way, or own belief, on how you play them. Personally, I think you deny them the puck. That means, when other players on their team have the puck, you make sure they don’t get it. So meeting them before the puck gets there. If they get the puck, it’s not about eliminating time and space, in my opinion, because if you’re too aggressive against them, there’s going to be ice opened up in the middle of the ice. They make those blind passes, and their whole game is about creating those 2-on-1s.

“It’s about bringing the (defender) into you, and wherever that guy was, putting the puck to where that guy was. So it’s a fine line, being aggressive when they don’t have it and, if they happen to get possession, sometimes you’ve got to sit. They’re not Steven Stamkos, right? They don’t have world-class shots, but what they are is world-class playmakers and world-class at creating those 2-on-1s.’’

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